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The evolution of Thanksgiving in Barrie

When men couldn't find a bird in the woods to put on the table for Thanksgiving, they often turned to Dunlop Street shops

When is Thanksgiving Day this year? On occasion, it takes a little calculation and a look at the calendar to find the exact date.

The holiday does vary a bit as it falls each autumn on the second Monday in October, occurring anywhere from the eighth day of the month up until the 14th.

The earliest residents of Barrie would have experienced a much greater amount of fluctuation in regards to the planning of their usual harvest celebrations.

In 1860, as this excerpt from the Northern Advance of Nov. 14 shows, no set date had been established but people were hopeful that it would be soon.

“A few days ago, we announced that it was the intention of the Government to appoint a day of Thanksgiving for the abundant harvest with which Providence has blessed the Province. We now learn that Thursday, December the 6th has been fixed for that purpose; and official proclamation of the fact may be expected soon to be made.”

In fact, it would be nearly 100 years more before an official Thanksgiving Day was settled upon in Canada.

Thanksgiving Day in North America, as a whole, is a blending of cultures. Indigenous people have long held feasts to celebrate a successful harvest, something that was also observed in agricultural communities across Europe.

The first harvest banquets held in Canada possibly predate the earliest American ones, but their aims were essentially the same: to build bridges between Indigenous people and Europeans, to thank the Indigenous for teaching the settlers vital survival skills and to facilitate the religious conversion and so-called civilization of these native residents.

Before 1879, the timing of the annual day of Thanksgiving varied wildly throughout the year. Most years, it was a church-centred celebration coinciding with the end of crop growing season, but sometimes it was held in conjunction with a special royal occasion.

After 1879, Canadian Parliament set the date annually. The date could fall anywhere from October to December.

Thanksgiving in Barrie was once the traditional first skate of the season day. Before the advent of artificial ice, it was often cold enough by then to freeze the rink in the old wooden arena at Elizabeth and Eccles streets.

Although every grocery merchant in town had a window display full of all sorts of dressed turkey, venison and other assorted roasts, another long-standing Thanksgiving tradition was the hunt.

The men folk went off into the woods on a quest for some game for the holiday table, but, on many occasions, found themselves seeking the main course in one of these Dunlop Street shops.

Sporting events and opera attendance were also popular ways to spend Thanksgiving Day in Barrie in days gone by.

A church service and a sumptuous meal were musts. Local hotels offered special menu items for the traveller.

In 1897, the Barrie Hotel offered a dinner started with macaroni soup, followed by a choice of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, turkey and cranberry or venison with jelly, served with boiled potatoes and creamed corn, with dessert options that included plum pudding or fruit pie.


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Mary Harris

About the Author: Mary Harris

Mary Harris is the Director of History and Research at the Barrie Historical Archive. The Barrie Historical Archive is a free, online archive that centralizes Barrie's historical content.
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